Climate Adaptation Fund

Climate Adaptation Fund

The Wildlife Conservation Society's Climate Adaptation Fund is pleased to offer a two-day Climate Adaptation for Conservation Training & Coaching Session for a limited number of project teams on October 27-28, 2015 in Memphis, Tennessee.

This unique opportunity provides hands-on training in how to consider climate change information in conservation planning and identify adaptation actions for implementation. It will also furnish participants with feedback and coaching on their own real-world climate adaptation project. Learn more and apply here.

Grants are awarded to projects that serve as innovative examples of on-the-ground efforts helping species and the ecosystems on which they depend adapt to changing climatic conditions across the United States. WCS is proud to support these groundbreaking and important projects that serve as models of best practice for future-smart and sustainable investments in restoration, land and water management actions, and science-based adaptation for many years to come.

Five short films about projects supported by The Fund can be found on Vimeo: Here! Below, we've shared one of these films about a project lead by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a 2012 recipient of a WCS Climate Adaptation Fund grant.

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition identified headwater reaches of three tributaries in the Madison Valley, Montana-- Ruby Creek, Horse Creek and West Fork-- that are presently too cold to support fish growth, but will be crucial cold-water refuges as temperatures increase. In addition, higher temperatures and more arid conditions will continue to reduce high elevation food sources for grizzly bears, making low elevation habitats and linkages increasingly important. Through restoration work on these tributaries, Greater Yellowstone Coalition has improved nearly 40 miles of headwater stream habitat and provided more secure riparian cover for large species movement in these three key sub-watersheds.

What We've Learned – a publication highlighting lessons learned from two years of grantmaking through the Climate Adaptation Fund

Recognizing the need to stimulate efforts to achieve conservation goals in light of the daunting impacts of climate change, the Climate Adaptation Fund is supporting applied projects demonstrating effective interventions for wildlife adaptation to climate change. Following two years of grantmaking in this new conservation arena, we have learned many lessons and have seen positive signs of growth in this rapidly evolving field of climate change adaptation. We have compiled these insights in a new paper that we will continue to build upon in the future. In the meantime, read about What We've Learned thus far.

HISTORY OF THE PROGRAM

In 2006, thanks to the support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the WCS Wildlife Action Opportunities Fund was launched. Over these past four years, the Opportunities Fund awarded more than $7.2 million for 81 wildlife conservation projects in 46 states, working to restore habitat, protect movement corridors, incorporate wildlife into land-use planning decisions, reintroduce endangered species, and implement priorities of State Wildlife Action Plans. We are proud of the conservation outcomes achieved by all of these projects and grateful for the on-going support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.